Karacabey is an industrial area as well as an agricultural one. It is known as the plantation area of a special variety of onions. There are many famous food factories around Karacabey such as Nestle and many varieties of vegetables and fruits are planted in Karacabey. There is a lake near it called Uluabat. The Marmara Sea is 32 km north.

The town is named for a soldier during the Ottoman Empire Era. The former name of the town was Mikalick[3] (Turkish: Mihaliç), after which a cheese was named, while its ancient name was Miletopolis (Greek: Μιλητόπολις). Miletopolis was apparently the chief settlement of a people called the Milatæ, whose name was hellenized to suggest a Milesiancolony. Its people colonized Gargara.[4]

Miletopolis was a suffragan of Cyzicus until the 12th or 13th century. Around the end of the twelfth, it united with Lopadium as an archbishopric.[4] There are two historical mosques in Karacabey, one from the 14th century.